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NewsGlobe: Interviews
Starent Networks rides the wireless wave
Advances the interactive application-driven wireless network
by Sean Buckley
Click here to listen to the Audiocast
Founded at a time when the wireless market was still mainly about voice services, Ashraf M. Dahod, President, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Starent Networks had a vision that wireless communications would be much more about than just talking. Dahod believed the wireless network should support a host of multimedia and interactive services. In this special NXTcomm 2008 edition of Telecommunications' Audiocast series, Editor in Chief Sean Buckley talks to Dahod about how the wireless industry is evolving from just plain old voice to a platform that supports interactive communications.
In this Audiocast, Dahod addresses the following questions:
• The wireless industry seems to be in a state of flux, especially in the U.S.
with Verizon Wireless’ intended purchase of AllTel and the ongoing
WiMAX vs. LTE debate. To start, can you talk about the state of the
overall market and the opportunities you see ahead?
• Founded right at the tip of the telecom bust in 2000, Starent has clearly
weathered the storm with major customer proof points such as Sprint
and Vodafone Germany. Do you believe these wins and others have
enabled you to prove out the company’s vision?
• Since your inception, you had the vision of the multimedia core. How has
this vision evolved with the influx of new wireless services and
applications?
• While Starent has remained agnostic to the underlying wireless
technologies out in the field, there’s clearly an ongoing debate on
whether LTE or WiMAX will be the road to next-gen wireless technology.
What’s your take on this ongoing debate or will that really depend on the
service provider and their own aspirations?
• Of course, no discussion about wireless these days is complete without
sorting through the hype over femtocells, an opportunity Starent has
targeted with its Femtocell Gateway. What’s the real opportunity for
these devices as you see it?
Click here to listen to the Audiocast
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